I've been thinking about this since you posted. I think we all have drawers like this (or boxes or cubbies or closet shelves...). The contents all tend to be things which are not particularly useful in the course of an ordinary day, but which can't be thrown away either.

I suspect these drawers are a kind of memory index. A sparkly eraser may not be significant in and of itself, but it may evoke or reflect a certain period in one's life that is important. These little objects may function as pointers to who we were, and what we thought or believed at one time and so may help enable us to see where we are by reminding us of where we've been.

Of course everybody's signposts are different and may point in very different directions than our own do. But we recognize them as signposts all the same precisely because we do have ones of our own.

Err...I normally don't pontificate Maybe because it's Sunday morning!
Robbyn | Homepage | 05.30.04 - 11:13 am | #